


The Stranger

by shezni



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Jealous Cecil, M/M, implied intercourse with Station Management
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 14:19:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shezni/pseuds/shezni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new man has come into town. Cecil sees him as a threat, but he may be trouble in more ways than one...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Stranger

               “Listeners, there is a new man in town. This in itself is nothing to worry about. Travelers come through Night Vale all the time, and many of them look much more threatening than this particular fellow. Compared to the writhing trans-dimensional terrors and overly rowdy Little League teams, some tall man in a military coat is no cause for concern. In fact, he seems rather friendly. He waved at all the children walking home from school and helped Old Woman Josie carry her bag of snacks for the angels to her house near the car lot. If he decides to stay, we may even have a lovely new addition to our little city.”

               Cecil Baldwin squinted at his notes through his thick glasses, making sure to read them carefully. They were muddled with omitted words and sentences, since everything remotely negative he had to say about the stranger had provoked ominous growling from Station Management’s office. He’d first noticed the new man about halfway through the day while he was gathering information for the evening’s show. He had been leaning inconspicuously on the wall of Ralph’s, checking what appeared to be a watch. Cecil had no knowledge of him entering the town, and he’d received no Official Stranger Notice from the mayor’s office. Since then, he had watched him like a hawk, his interest piqued by his mysterious appearance. Though mention of the man’s presence only took up of a small portion of the broadcast (the sentient plants whispering chants of dark, ancient magic that caused people within earshot to grow red spikes out of their backs had taken precedent), he monitored him carefully, keeping his presence noted in his expansive vision. Something seemed rather off about the man. There was no denying that he cut a handsome figure, with his strong jaw, jet-black hair and playful blue eyes, but physical attractiveness was hardly a guarantee of safety. Cecil had learned that much during the horrific Little Miss Night Vale beauty pageant he had hosted a few years back. Furthermore, the man seemed to be asking the citizens about the location of Carlos’s lab. Although he didn’t mention Night Vale’s resident lead scientist by name, he did inquire about a research lab that may have been set up in the past two years. Needless to say, anyone snooping around Cecil’s boyfriend was a character worthy of suspicion. His suspicion was only intensified by Station Management’s strange reaction to his mention. If this traveler was involved with them somehow, he couldn’t be anything but dangerous. Cecil even made the mistake of keeping his third eye open during the weather, evoking hisses and low rumblings from the office down the hall. It was a breach of contract for him to use his eye for personal reasons, and as soon as he heard the tell-tale _fwip_ of a letter being shoved under the office door, he promptly sealed it shut and rolled up his sleeve. If he was going to continue to keep tabs on this man, he would have to be more discreet.  

               After bidding his listeners goodnight and feeding Khosekh his evening sheep liver, Cecil drove straight to Carlos’s lab, fingers drumming the steering wheel nervously the whole way. He tried to call Carlos a few times, but he was sent straight to voicemail. Cecil swallowed hard, willing himself not to panic. He had hoped he could at least warn him of the potential danger before he set out to find the stranger himself. Carlos had been through enough at the hands of this city, and if anything else happened to him, Cecil would never be able to forgive himself. When he pulled up outside of the lab and saw through the window that the man was already inside, his breath caught in his throat. He fumbled blindly in his glove compartment before he managed to grasp some kind of weapon and leapt out the car, dashing towards the door while running through a million scenarios in his head. He had been well prepared for the various threats of humanoid strangers, and by the time he reached the door he already had several plans of attack in mind. He clutched his weapon of choice tightly in his hand and steeled his nerves.

               “Carlos!” Cecil yelled and burst through the door, brandishing his Swiss army knife with the corkscrew deployed. He was met by two sets of eyes staring at him in total bewilderment. Carlos was leaning against his work table casually, tablet in hand while the man in the military jacket stood next to him. They both seemed to have been shaken out of what had previously been a rather uneventful conversation. There was a moment of silence as Cecil stared back at them, his corkscrew still raised threateningly.

Finally, after a few agonizing moments, Carlos cleared his throat and spoke. “Um, Cecil…what exactly are you doing?” Cecil realized he was still holding his weapon aloft. He quickly dropped his arm and shoved the instrument into his pocket.  

“Uh, well, you see,” he started nervously, pulling at the knot in his tie, “I was just concerned for you because…well, this gentleman was asking about you and I thought…maybe…”

The stranger let out a booming laugh. “So you were going to screw me to death? Not a bad way to go, I guess!” His blue eyes twinkled with amusement as he strode forward and offered a hand to Cecil. “Captain Jack Harkness. I’m just in town for a little while to catch up with Carlos here. We used to work for the same organization.

Cecil took his hand and shook it weakly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Cecil, Cecil Baldwin.”

“Oh yeah, you’re the radio guy! Carlos was just telling me about you. You know, I met your bosses in the Eagle Nebula once. Very lovely beings. Pretty adventurous, too. They didn’t really keep in touch, though. You’d think they would after a weekend that wild.” Captain Harkness’s eyes clouded with a dreamy faraway look, and Cecil couldn’t help but shudder. At least now he understood why he had had to revise his notes so much.

Cecil cleared his throat nervously. “Um, might I ask what organization you two worked for?”

“The Torchwood Institute. We specialize in…less than conventional branches of science. Carlos here was one of our finest in America. He happened to be pretty good at science, too.” The captain turned to wink at him, and Carlos ducked his head and started fidgeting with his tablet. Cecil stiffened. There seemed to be more going on here than just a casual visit.

Cecil smiled thinly, desperately trying to think of some way to get this strange, overly flirtatious man to leave. “I see! Well, he has certainly been a blessing to our community. His research has improved all our lives.” Captain Harkness smiled back, seemingly oblivious to the strain in Cecil’s voice.

“I’m sure he has! He was a great member of the Torchwood team. The American branch hasn’t been quite the same since he left. Of course, there’s an opening where I am in Cardiff…” Captain Harkness gave Carlos a sidelong glance. The flustered scientist simply pulled nervously on an errant dreadlock and looked down, trying to avoid eye contact with both of the men in the room. Cecil began to sweat nervously. Was he really trying to convince Carlos to leave? The mere thought of it was almost unbearable.

“Well,” Carlos said, absently fiddling with his stylus, “the offer is certainly interesting, and the prospect of meeting the Doctor is always exciting but I’m really going to have to think about it a little more. A lot more, actually.”

“Well, let me know if you decide to come back! There’s been a couple pay raises since you left and Cardiff’s a locale with a lot of action. And the people! Well, let’s just say you’ll never be bored.”

Carlos nodded and muttered something vague and non-committal. Cecil watched this exchange silently, fists unconsciously clenched in his pockets. He didn’t like where this Captain Jack guy was going with this, whoever he was.

“Well!” Captain Harkness said suddenly, clapping his hands together as if to dispel the tension from the room “I’ll leave you two in peace for now. I might come by tomorrow to check out what all you have going on in this lab. I’m staying at the Holiday Inn towards the edge of town if either of you want to pay me a little visit. And Carlos, just know that you’re always welcome at the Cardiff branch.” With one final wink and a nod in Cecil’s direction, he was out the door, leaving the two with only the hum of machinery to alleviate the uncomfortable silence.

After a while, Carlos spoke. “Um, sorry about Jac- er, Captain Harkness. He can be a little overbearing.” He sighed and flopped down on a stool, mentally exhausted from the awkward encounter.

“It’s alright! I’ve dealt with worse before.” Cecil smiled and pulled a stool over to where Carlos sat, settling down next to him. “He seems like a very dynamic fellow.” His voice got quieter. “He seemed to know you pretty well.”

Startled, Carlos stared at Cecil, unsure of what to say. For a moment, he silently stumbled over his words before answering. “Well, back when I worked for Torchwood, when he came to visit the North American branch, we sort of…had a thing. I-it wasn’t anything serious!” he added quickly, trying to dampen Cecil’s shock. “It was just, you know, physical. I mean, Ja- Captain Harkness wasn’t really looking for commitment and neither was I. It was just…you know, for fun.”

Cecil sat quietly, hands folded in his lap. He had never given much thought to Carlos’s life before his arrival. He had seen Carlos as a gift, given to the town in a show of benevolence by the same seemingly random forces that rained havoc on the citizen’s lives. Now that he truly thought about it, there was a lot about Carlos he didn’t know. He had no idea where his hometown was or where he went to school. For God’s sake, he didn’t even know what _kind_ of scientist Carlos was! Even though they had been spending more and more time together, trying to discover what they could about each other, there were still huge gaps in Cecil’s knowledge. Even that flirty bastard Harkness probably knew more about Carlos that he did. The thought made his heart sink.

 “Carlos,” he asked, “what was Torchwood like?” Part of him was afraid to know, but if he didn’t find out, he felt as though he would regret it.

Carlos furrowed his brow and scratched his chin thoughtfully. “It was…well, it was very strange. It’s a secret organization, kind of like the secret police here, except we didn’t really kidnap and jail people or anything like that. The main goal of the Torchwood program was to protect Earth from any and all otherworldly threats. I did a lot of highly classified work there. I mostly reverse engineered some of the technology we’d come across. I had a great team and the work was interesting, but after a while, I got tired of keeping all those secrets. I struck out on my own, hoping I would find something a little more conventional and well…I ended up in Night Vale.” He smiled ruefully. “I guess I can’t escape my calling, huh? Compared to this place, working at Torchwood was junior science kit level stuff.” 

Cecil tried to smile, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “I guess then…maybe you would want to go back?”

“What? Cecil, that’s not what-“

“I wouldn’t blame you!” Cecil jumped up and gestured wildly, eyes brimming with tears. “This place…as much as I _love_ this town, it’s…it takes a serious toll! I had to report twelve deaths today alone. If the angels hadn’t stepped in, who knows what those sentient plants could have done! It used to not bother me so much but after what happened to you…” Cecil’s voice trailed off and he slumped into his stool, shoulders shaking as tears began to leak from his eyes.

Carlos reached over and covered Cecil’s brown hand with his own darker one. “Cecil…Cecil, it’s okay. I know you’re upset but…I’ll be okay. I promise.” He gently lifted Cecil’s chin so he could look straight into his eyes. “There’s no way I’d go back to Torchwood, not when I have this bizarre town to research and…not when I have you to look out for me.” Cecil sniffed loudly and removed his fogged glasses, unable to meet Carlos’s warm brown eyes. He felt Carlos squeeze his hand lightly and he managed to smile through his tears.

“Well, thank goodness for that. Besides, I’m not entirely sure the City Council would have let you leave anyway. They really seem to have taken a shine to you.”

Carlos laughed and wiped the tears from Cecil’s eyes. “I’m not really sure if that’s a good thing, but I guess I’m flattered all the same.” He draped his arm around Cecil’s shoulder and pulled him close. “Hey, I won’t leave you, okay? Let’s promise to look out for each other from now on.”

Cecil smiled contently, leaning his head against his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Alright. It’s a promise.” They sat blissfully for a few precious moments, each at peace in the other’s presence. Cecil briefly thought of continuing to monitor Captain Jack, but though better of it. He wasn’t their problem now, and no matter what he did, nothing could possibly pull them apart. Besides, he figured he would be occupied soon enough anyway. Cecil had every intention of letting Station Management know that their old flame was in town. 


End file.
